Divided by Race, Language, and Education: 200 Years of Defiance and Deference Under Colonial Rule. After the founding of modern Singapore, the story of the conflict among the poor and disaffected underclass was told from the viewpoint of the British colonizers. A coolie's perspective was never written down. Until now. This book paints a troubling portrait of the poor in historical Singapore. It examines poverty as a problem caused by the way the British colony was governed. Accounts throughout history find the poor caught in a vicious circle. They had little access to education, credit and other means of generating income, so they organised themselves and fought for the assets they needed to increase future income. Sometimes they clashed with one another. At other times, they rioted against British authorities. After the Second World War, they started a communist insurgency, believing that it was their chance at a world where all begin on more equal footing.